Poll: Vast majority doubt they'll strike it rich
WASHINGTON — Who believes they'll be a millionaire?
About two in 10 Americans, who are less optimistic than Australians but more optimistic than Britons about becoming wealthy in the next ten years, according to a new AP-CNBC poll.
In all three countries, more than seven in 10 of those surveyed said they were unlikely to become millionaires in the next decade.
Reflecting the psychic toll of the global economic doldrums, solid majorities of Americans — 61 percent — and Britons — 63 percent — say it's extremely or very difficult for their countrymen to become millionaires today.
"It's an unrealistic thing for anybody to assume," said Jason Hall, 35, a heavy equipment operator in Loganville, Wis.
Across the pond, 19-year-old Natasha Hill, an apprentice at a London hair salon, said many of her friends looking for work amid high unemployment have essentially given up.
"There's no determination, nothing to aim for," Hill said. "Everyone is in robot mode — they just settle."
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On the flip side of the planet, just 35 percent of Australians feel the same way, the results found.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes you can" become a millionaire, said Australian student Hannah Peters, 21. "Anybody can become a millionaire. There are so many opportunities here. You just have to know how to go about it."
The Aussies have reason to be so darned sunny.
Unemployment there is 5.3 percent, nearly half the United States' 9.1 percent. Just under 8 percent of Brits are out of work. And a natural resources boom in Western Australia is helping grow the country's economy about 3 percent this year, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. The equivalent figure for the United Kingdom is 1.7 percent and for the U.S. economy, 2.8 percent, though many private economists expect it to be lower.
Still, becoming a millionaire was tough to imagine for many Down Under.
"My pay is lousy and I spend it," said Tasmanian Brian Draney, a 47 year-old lineman and father of two young children.
Polling last month by The Associated Press and CNBC found that Australians are the most optimistic of the bunch, with 29 percent of respondents there saying they feel good about their prospects of eventually becoming a millionaire in the next decade, compared with 21 percent in the U.S. and just 8 percent in the U.K.
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CBS staff must have a really slow News day!
Once again, CBS is trying to stir up resentment and fear where there should be none.
This whole business of the rich, paying for the poor, has always been a lie. Everyone has to pull their own weight, and if you are fortunate enough to get a decent home on a postage stamp lot, and live comfortably, you are ahead of the game.
The poor always want to think that they should NOT have to earn their way in the world, and those who work for a living should support them. The middle class has always provided that support, but with the destruction of middle class jobs, due to off shore manufacturing, the middle class can no longer do that, so now the poor want to increase pressure to be taken care of by the rich. Lots of luck with that......there simply aren't enough of those people to get the job done.